• 3 Days, 2 Nights
• 60 km (37 miles)
• 7,700 ft of elevation gain
• 3 Side Quests
• 5 Cheeky Kea

New Zealand is a backpacker’s paradise and I knew that for my first time in the South Island I wanted to get the true backcountry experience. New Zealand is unique in that the Department of Conservation operates more than 950 backcountry huts throughout the country. These huts are open to the public, many are first come first served, but some of the more popular ones must be reserved in advance. While the country is full of incredible hikes and backpacking trips, the Department of Conservation (DOC) decided to highlight a few and call them “Great Walks.” These Great Walks, of which there are 11, are the best of the best.

What does this mean?

This means that the trails are pristine, the views are breathtaking, and the huts have a live in ranger during the summer months. The most iconic of all the Great Walks is the Milford Track, which is said to be the “Finest Walk in the World.” I did not get permits for this walk as it books up so fast the reservation website breaks. Instead I got permits for another Great Walk in Fiordland National Park: The Kepler Track. The Kepler Track is known for its iconic alpine ridge line hiking. This was my experience walking the Kepler Track.

8AM: We began on the shores of Lake Te Anau which was flat for a couple of miles and then quickly turned inland to climb through the forest. Our goal for the day was the Luxmore Hut, which is situated just above the tree line.

After a nice climb, we broke out above the trees to incredible alpine views. They really were breathtaking, the alpine in New Zealand begins at about 4,000ft. For reference, the High Sierra in California begins at 8,000ft. Quite a big difference! We soon reached the Luxmore Hut, ate lunch, and took in the view.

Since we arrived early (about 1PM), we decided to pick our bunks immediately to ensure we got premier spots. The Luxmore hut is often considered the fanciest of all the DOC huts: running drinkable water, flushing toilets, gas stoves, brand new mattresses, and a live in ranger. This hut can accommodate a total of 54 people split into 2 bunk rooms. We chose to sleep in the smaller bunk room of only 14 beds. Although that didn’t do us much good since we had a very loud snorer in our room.

After eating lunch and picking our bunks we decided to go on a side quest to the Luxmore Caves. The main cave is over 3km long with a river running through it the entire way. It is known for its incredible limestone formations. We explored all the way to the end, there were definitely some tight spots! It was also saddening to see the limestone turning brown and dying from all of the people touching it. We made a concerted effort not to touch the limestone formations wherever possible.

Afterwards we exited the cave, headed back to the hut and enjoyed some time in the sun. Soon the cheeky Kea came to visit. These birds are the world’s only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand’s South Island. They are unbelievably smart and find us humans hilarious. They will steal anything that they can get their hands on: snacks, boots, trekking poles, passports, wallets, speakers, even recording GoPros (look up Kea Kepler GoPro on YouTube)! These birds will unzip your bag while you’re not looking.

Kea are also highly collaborative, one will put on a show drawing your attention while the rest sneak in behind you and abscond with all of your things. Kea have no fear of humans and will walk right up to you. They don’t mean any harm, they are just curious. The Kea were definitely a highlight of the Kepler Track. Also! Always be on the lookout for Kea #2, Melsby. He’s the smartest of them all and also the ring leader, so be extra careful around him.

After hanging out with the Kea, we made dinner and listened to our ranger give his hut talk. This covered everything from the hut itself, to weather, trail conditions, and plenty of fun facts about the Kea. We watched the sunset, and called it an early night.

The next morning we awoke early (4:30AM) because everybody else in the room began rolling up their sleeping bags. People wanted an early start because a storm was scheduled to come in the afternoon. So we decided to kick off the morning by watching the sunrise. Then we came back, and as we were packing up, 5 Kea came to visit (they knew we were all getting ready to leave and wanted some tasty snacks). We hit the trail about 7AM.

Day 2 is the highlight of the track, the iconic ridge lines. We quickly climbed to incredible views. We took a quick detour to the highest point on the track: Mount Luxmore. The views were absolutely stunning.

After summiting Mount Luxmore, we made our way down along the ridge line until we reached an alpine emergency shelter. This one was unique because the toilet door blew off during a storm and hadn’t been replaced yet. So you can poop with a pretty incredible view. Just make sure you replace the rock afterwards so the Kea can’t fly into it!

Now began the real ridge line hiking. Absolutely unreal views for miles.

This was the type of hiking that leaves you speechless. Views in every direction, unbelievable ridges, beauty that makes you so grateful to be alive. These ridge lines lasted for several miles until we dropped down in the trees. We made it back into the trees just in time too because the rain started right as we hit the tree line. We continued our descent down through the forest until we reached the Iris Burn hut. As soon as we arrived at the hut, the downpour began.

However, we didn’t let any rain stop us from our final side quest: Iris Burn Falls. A brief 20 minute walk through the forest to the falls. We even found a purple mushroom that matched my jacket!

Once we got back to the hut, we made some dinner, played a few card games, and called it an early night.

Day 3 we awoke early (about 5AM), packed up, and began our trek out. The entire way out was flat forest, which was beautiful. But after about an hour everything began to look the same. It felt like an endless slog back to the car. There is a 4th hut that some people stay at on the way out, but it was about 2/3 of the way back to the car, so we thought it would be better just to finish up the entire trek. After about 8 hours of hiking we made it back to the car in early afternoon.

The Kepler Track is one of the longest Great Walks but also one of the most beautiful. As my first ever experience hiking in New Zealand, this blew my mind. Pictures cannot do it justice. This was an incredible adventure and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The best day was definitely day 2 because the views were just wild.

This was indeed a Great Walk.

Until the next wild adventure,

Cowboy Rob